New AOC widescreen LCD monitors raise the ante

Gone are the days when a monitor is just a peripheral attached to a PC. The latest crop of AOC widescreen LCD monitors could now be the centerpiece in any office or entertainment room as they have improved by leaps and bounds in terms of functions and design.

When a monitor starts doing certain tasks, no matter how mundane, without a PC, it signals the start of a game-changing development that sets the stage for more exciting things to come. The new AOC Rivio 22-inch widescreen LCD monitor is like that — it can play videos, music and slideshows from its built-in media player, rendering a PC unnecessary for that job.

Taiwan’s TPV Technology Ltd. (TPV), the world’s biggest monitor maker, counts on its new LCD models like the Rivio to help up its game in a local LCD market presently dominated by South Korean consumer electronics giants Samsung and LG.

In an interview with NetWorks, Jason Cheng, president and CEO of Glee Electronics, TPV’s local distributor of AOC monitors, said they are looking at growing their sales of LCD monitors this year to 30 percent alongside the overall market that is also projected to grow in the same level.

“During the last three or four years, Samsung and LG were leading here. According to IDC’s second quarter 2008 report, AOC’s market share in the Philippines is 26 percent. We hope to grow our number by embarking on a new segment (of products) that are more lifestyle and performance-driven,” Cheng added.

IDC’s Asia-Pacific Quarterly PC Monitor Tracker 4Q 2007 reports that the Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) PC monitor market totaled 54.7 million units in 2007, representing an increase of 20.4 percent over 2006.

Except for Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan, all countries in the region posted a year-on-year growth. Total LCD sales in 2007 surged 53.2 percent to 44.4 million units. Monitors bundled with a branded desktop accounted for 45.2 percent of total monitor sales, while the standalone monitor market captured 54.8 percent of all monitor sales in 2007.

The top six PC monitor vendors in the APEJ region in 2007 were Samsung, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Hewlett-Packard, ViewSonic and AOC, respectively. Of these vendors, IDC said Samsung and Lenovo experienced a slight drop in market share; LG Electronics was able to maintain its market share, while HP, ViewSonic and AOC showed a slight growth in share over 2006.

Is 22” the new 17”?

Glee and TPV launched a total of four new LCD monitor models — Rivio, Avio, Zifas, Toriba, and for the first time, an LCD TV called Tiboli. All these products are available in 19-inch or 22-inch widescreens.

This seems to mirror IDC’s forecast of an earnest migration from 17-inch (or smaller) widescreen monitor to 19-inch or 22-inch models that will take place this year in the Asia-Pacific region.

In 2007, 17-inch LCDs were the mainstream size in the APEJ region, especially as PC bundles. But in the non-bundled market, 19-inch widescreen LCDs outsold the 17-inch LCDs, according to IDC, which added that the narrowing price gap between the 17-inch and 19-inch widescreen LCD sizes due to the shortage in 17-inch LCDs was the biggest driver for the growth in 19-inch widescreen LCDs.

Last April, the market research outfit also reports that while entry-level home users, especially in emerging markets, are still expected to buy 15-, 16- and 17-inch widescreen LCDs, the more advanced home users would opt for at least 19- to 22-inch widescreen LCD displays just like commercial users.

When AOC’s new LCDs become available in October, Cheng said Glee will market them under four types of series — S for standard, V for value, F for fashion, and P for professionals. In terms of price, Cheng said about P6,900 can buy a 15-inch S series LCD monitor, while one must shell out at least P15,000 to get a 22” widescreen P series LCD display.

Meanwhile, all of the latest AOC LCD monitors feature high-gloss “piano black” finishes, on-screen control menus in vivid color or multi-directional “Navi Ring” instead of the traditional row of buttons.

The new models are also quite ergonomic. The Avio offers a 160-degree viewing angle while the Zafia has a flexible Z-shaped stand so that it could be folded almost completely flat on a table or be mounted on a wall. The Toriba comes with Vesa Mount Ring for easier display on the wall.

CRT is history

As LCD makers brace for a double-digit year-on-year growth in the entire APEJ region this year as PCs bundled with widescreen monitors become a standard, the opposite is happening with CRT monitors as demand continues to plummet this year. Analysts think CRT monitors will fall off the roadmap of most vendors this year.

“IDC predicts further evolution in the market in 2008. Widescreen LCD monitors will expand to encompass more than 60 percent of worldwide LCD shipments, while CRT monitor shipment numbers will continue to dwindle. Well-established markets such as the United States and Western Europe will face saturation and shipment number declines, while up-and-coming regions such as AP and ROW (rest of the world) will grow so dramatically that they’ll dwarf the former market leaders,” said Tom Mainelli, senior research analyst for IDC’s Displays and Projectors Group.

Cheng, however, noted that CRT sales in the country still account for about 30 percent of overall monitor demand considering that the Philippines is a price-sensitive market.

LCD TV

AOC also finally plunged into the consumer electronics end of the LCD market by introducing its own large-screen LCD TV, the “Tiboli.”

Although prices of large-format LCD TVs from leading brands are slowly dropping, the market for “budget” LCD TVs is still a lucrative market that TPV chooses to be in.

But the AOC Tiboli won’t be marketed just on price. The Taiwan brand has some tricks up its sleeves by offering the Tiboli with a high-technology 22-inch Full HD 1920 x 1080p resolution, a built-in HDTV tuner and virtual surround sound at price points lower than its legacy consumer electronics rivals.

Prices for larger-sized LCD TVs, meanwhile, are expected to decline aggressively throughout the year, ultimately dropping the 52-inch category well under the $2,000 price point by the holiday season, IDC said.

Notebook connection

Monitor vendors often lament the growth of notebooks as a major impediment to sales. While this may be partially true, IDC believes that more can be done in conjunction with other vendors or channel partners to promote monitor bundles with other devices besides desktops, such as thin clients or notebooks, said Reuben Tan, senior manager of Asia-Pacific Personal Systems Research at IDC.

Cheng agreed. He told NetWorks that although notebooks, particularly the currently very popular netbooks, could contribute to a decline in monitor-PC ratios, the market also shows that many users prefer to have a good-size external monitor to attach their notebooks to when they have to.

Armed with this insight, Cheng said they are working with dealers to offer an AOC 10-inch or 22-inch LCD monitor to notebook buyers at a discount. He even added that they, too, will join the netbook bandwagon by launching a Neo netbook possibly next month.